- MAF was strong & pulled the W out for his squad (he loved playing in front of Patrick Roy)- Sutter had a great game and is still getting better- Too bad there are no Shoot Outs in the playoffs, Jussi's got a great move - Payerl looked okay in his first game, missed a glorious chance, showed some good Grit- Dejan nailed it by calling these new injuries the "Sochi Flu"- MacKinnon is the real deal, sorry Ollie, no rookie of year for you-

darkstar57 wrote:Bylsma always seems to get the most out of depleted lineup

This has been my point about Disco for a while now. He is a good coach, for some teams, just not a fully-operational star-studded Penguins team. He'd be a great coach for the Coyotes or Canes or Jets, but just not the Pens.

-Fleury was awesome last night-Maybe it's the new toy feel, but for Payerl's first game I thought he showed promise and was always driving the net when the opportunity was there.-Forecheck was surgical-Desire and heart...need more on this team when healthy

After the Minnesota game and other poor efforts, I thought scratcing the Captain and the two alternates was just what the doctor ordered. I just wish the HCDB had the stones to do what Paul Maurice did with Kane and say it was a coaches decision, rather than making up some injuries.

Perhaps this way is better though. Send a message in the room without showing up anyone in the media.

topshelf66 wrote:After the Minnesota game and other poor efforts, I thought scratcing the Captain and the two alternates was just what the doctor ordered. I just wish the HCDB had the stones to do what Paul Maurice did with Kane and say it was a coaches decision, rather than making up some injuries.

Perhaps this way is better though. Send a message in the room without showing up anyone in the media.

So you think this was a benching of Crosby, Kunitz, Orpik, and Maatta, rather than intended to give them a rest with injury cover stories? I'm not sure why you think that is the case. Why would he bench Crosby or Kunitz? How is Evander Kane in any way comparable to any of those four p[layers?

topshelf66 wrote:After the Minnesota game and other poor efforts, I thought scratcing the Captain and the two alternates was just what the doctor ordered. I just wish the HCDB had the stones to do what Paul Maurice did with Kane and say it was a coaches decision, rather than making up some injuries.

Perhaps this way is better though. Send a message in the room without showing up anyone in the media.

So you think this was a benching of Crosby, Kunitz, Orpik, and Maatta, rather than intended to give them a rest with injury cover stories? I'm not sure why you think that is the case. Why would he bench Crosby or Kunitz? How is Evander Kane in any way comparable to any of those four p[layers?

I am not saying that HCDB's motive was anything other than giving them a rest. I was just speculating and even hoping that after all of the calls for accountability, especially for the star players, that sitting the Captain and both Alternates right after one of the poorest efforts of the year may have been designed to hold the leadership of this team accountable.

The only similarity with the Kane situation is that, if accurate, the coach would be holding a star player accountable by taking him out of the lineup. I was not equating any Pens player(s) with Kane personally.

After watching the extremely disciplined Wild, it was so refreshing to see an Avs team give up beautiful scoring chance after scoring chance. that said, scoring chances are earned through hard work and the guys were flying last night.

Love when this team doesn't have stars to pander to. Everyone else just plays hockey the way they were taught.

RisslingsMissingTeeth wrote:Love when this team doesn't have stars to pander to. Everyone else just plays hockey the way they were taught.

I guess I understand the desire to root for the underdog gritty grinding grinders who get by on toughness and grit grindiness that grinds grit mixed with truculence, but this is kind of like saying "I love when this team does not play its best players."

RisslingsMissingTeeth wrote:Love when this team doesn't have stars to pander to. Everyone else just plays hockey the way they were taught.

I guess I understand the desire to root for the underdog gritty grinding grinders who get by on toughness and grit grindiness that grinds grit mixed with truculence, but this is kind of like saying "I love when this team does not play its best players."

or, "i love when i'm free to watch game of thrones when the pens are on"

RisslingsMissingTeeth wrote:Love when this team doesn't have stars to pander to. Everyone else just plays hockey the way they were taught.

I guess I understand the desire to root for the underdog gritty grinding grinders who get by on toughness and grit grindiness that grinds grit mixed with truculence, but this is kind of like saying "I love when this team does not play its best players."

That was not the intent of my statement. I was pointing out that when the stars are playing, the rest of the supporting cast seems to just defer to them instead of just going out and being the play-makers themselves. Also the coaches feel the need to overplay them.

It happens. On the team I play on, whenever I am on the line with our top scorer, I usually just try and get the puck to him. You almost can't help yourself.

RisslingsMissingTeeth wrote:Love when this team doesn't have stars to pander to. Everyone else just plays hockey the way they were taught.

I guess I understand the desire to root for the underdog gritty grinding grinders who get by on toughness and grit grindiness that grinds grit mixed with truculence, but this is kind of like saying "I love when this team does not play its best players."

That was not the intent of my statement. I was pointing out that when the stars are playing, the rest of the supporting cast seems to just defer to them instead of just going out and being the play-makers themselves. Also the coaches feel the need to overplay them.

It happens. On the team I play on, whenever I am on the line with our top scorer, I usually just try and get the puck to him. You almost can't help yourself.

Fair enough, but I don't personally have an issue with the way they use our best players. They should play big minutes. And those players deferring to Sid or Malkin or other "stars" -- that's a good thing for the most part. Those other players aren't playmakers because they lack the skill to do it at the NHL level, not because they are deferring to stars.

topshelf66 wrote:I am not saying that HCDB's motive was anything other than giving them a rest. I was just speculating and even hoping that after all of the calls for accountability, especially for the star players, that sitting the Captain and both Alternates right after one of the poorest efforts of the year may have been designed to hold the leadership of this team accountable.

The only similarity with the Kane situation is that, if accurate, the coach would be holding a star player accountable by taking him out of the lineup. I was not equating any Pens player(s) with Kane personally.

If this was the message, I would be extremely impressed with Bylsma. I don't think he has THAT in him, though.

I'm going to agree, the Pens have been missing truculence since early in the year when the AHL players executed the system to a T, instead of the fancy pants unpredictability the superstars add to the lineup.

At one point in the game last night I thought, maybe the current star studded lineup of Pens don't want to hit, bang and crash like they can because they know it will be returned on them?

This team needs to be physical to be involved/engaged and executing the game.

topshelf66 wrote:I am not saying that HCDB's motive was anything other than giving them a rest. I was just speculating and even hoping that after all of the calls for accountability, especially for the star players, that sitting the Captain and both Alternates right after one of the poorest efforts of the year may have been designed to hold the leadership of this team accountable.

The only similarity with the Kane situation is that, if accurate, the coach would be holding a star player accountable by taking him out of the lineup. I was not equating any Pens player(s) with Kane personally.

If this was the message, I would be extremely impressed with Bylsma. I don't think he has THAT in him, though.

Crosby, Kunitz, and Maatta are the last players that need to be held accountable.

You want to impress me Dan? Scratch Scuderi, Adams, and either scratch Engo or play him forward. At least the scratching would be a reflection of their play all year. In Adams and Engo's case, it's not really their fault, they're just not good players and Bylsma is an idiot.